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www.vccsa.co.za

VETERANTICS

The Veteran Car Club of South Africa

FOUNDED 1954 —————————————————————————

AFFILIATED TO S.A.V.V.A.

AND THE VETERAN CAR CLUB OF GREAT BRITAIN —————————————————————————

December 2014

P.O.BOX 1443

KLOOF 3640

21A VILLAGE ROAD

KLOOF

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Single: R300 Single: R350 including SAVVA fees Single: R250 including SAVVA fees.

Couple: R300 Couple: R500 including SAVVA fees. Couple: R400 including SAVVA fees.

Home:(031) 765 7334 764 2322 765 3794 266 1075

Cell: 083 7847334 082 4145887 072 4556937 076 7300347

PATRON PATRON’S COUNCIL PRESIDENT VICE-PRESIDENT

Lynton Milner Carl Mouton Andrew Stewart Lynette Barnes

CHAIRMAN VICE-CHAIRMAN SECRETARY TREASURER MAINTENANCE LIBRARY/REGALIA BAR SPARES DATING VETERANTICS CONCOURS/TROPHIES EVENTS CO-ORDINATOR LADIES’ CIRCLE CLUB RENOVATIONS SAVVA REPRESENTATIVE

Reg Taylor Peter Hall Pam Hall Maryann Stewart Alastair McDonald Shona Middlebrook Ralph Barnes Peter Kaminski Alastair McDonald Oliver Hart Dave Morley Graham Hossack Lynette Barnes Alastair McDonald Peter Hall

082 4146207 083 3848796 082 7732923 072 4556937 082 2684046 082 8773069 079 5880613

082 2684046 072 3481822 084 0545646 083 6775122 076 7300347 082 2684046 083 3848796

767 5779 764 0365 764 0365 765 3794 767 3253 767 2317 266 1075 767 5408 767 3253 701 0018 466 4063 266 6637 266 1075 767 3253 764 0365

VETERANTICS - December 2014

THIS IS THE PUBLICATION OF THE VETERAN CAR CLUB OF SOUTH AFRICA. OPINIONS

EXPRESSED HEREIN DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THOSE OF THE COMMITTEE,

THE EDITOR, OR THE CLUB. REGULAR GATHERINGS ARE HELD AT THE

CLUBHOUSE, 21A VILLIAGE ROAD, KLOOF AS PER THE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS PUBLISHED IN THIS NEWSLETTER.

Visitors are welcome in the care of a Member, and MUST be signed on by that member. Parking within the Clubhouse grounds is intended for Qualifying vehicles only. (30 years or

older) at Bonnets-Up. Club Marshals are on duty to direct you on arrival. Modern vehicles should be parked next door at No. 20A Village Road. Parking at your own risk.

Any late cancellations of social bookings will be charged for in full.

SUBSCRIPTIONS ENTRY FEE: LOCAL COUNTRY: JUNIORS: R50 HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS - FREE LIFE MEMBERS — R17 Plus R200.00 for printed newsletter (optional).

Banking details: Standard Bank - Hillcrest - Branch Code - 045726 Account Number - 051417421 Payments may be made by bank transfer or cheque. CASH AND CHEQUE deposits should include bank commissions. Please fax through proof of payment and name to 086 6145 217

OFFICE BEARERS 2014 / 2015

COMMITTEE & PORTFOLIO HOLDERS

CLUB REGALIA Tie - R45 Blazer Badge - R45 Stainless steel Badges - R120

G.P.S. South 29° 47' 44″ East 30° 50' 16″ Elevation 580.3 metres

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s we once again approach the end of another year which always seems to finish well before it’s due date, I had cause to reflect back over our club’s rich history and the wonderful people

who have passed on. Tony, whose picture is on the front cover, was just one of so many people who played a major role in creating the character of the club as we know it today. My personal recol-lections only go back 25 years but since then we have lost so many good friends who were always willing to help and share their talents and exper-tise. Reading old issues of the newsletter and the earlier Veterantics, names keep popping up of

those people who augmented our club’s 60 years. What is wonderful of course is that as our older members are replaced by others there are new friendships to be made and new talents to discover. So if you are aware of someone new joining our club, take them under your wing for a while and before long they will feel like old family members. Re-member that whatever you do for the club will come back to you tenfold.

Best Christmas wishes from all the little gnomes who put this publication together and they ask that you put your orders in quickly for that new equipment you need for your workshop.

That’s the bundle for now and any comments

would be appreciated. Oliver Hart hart2@telkomsa.net or revilotrah@telkomsa.net

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Front cover: Friends past. Tony Day was always game to be Santa at our Christmas functions. He is sadly missed and here he is some years ago sitting in the Austin Healey Frog-eye Sprite of George and Ann Lemke.

Spares Shop will be open from 10h00 to 12h00 Peter Kaminski will be at your service to help you find that obsolete part on

the following Wednesdays. 10 December 9 January 13 February

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That’s all for now, take care. Reg.

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CHAIRMAN’S CHAT

e have all received our Xmas present early this

year, that being the drop in the price of fuel, with an-

other drop looming on the horizon, all we need to see

now is the strengthening of the SA Rand and we will be

well on the way to a good start for 2015. I hope that is

not just wishful thinking on my part.

Colin Healy who is very well known for his collection

of steam and diesels engines, model trains, stationary

engines and many more other interesting pieces of ma-

chinery held an open house day on the 15th November. Each year I seem to miss this

open house but this year come hell or high water I made a point of seeing the collection.

Wow......what an amazing experience, one would never expect to find such an array of

working equipment in a residential area. He must have some very forgiving neighbours.

If you have not been before you should make a point of making an effort to attend his

next open house.

There is one of our members, who in the 1970’s, had a bumper sticker on the back of

his Ford Fairlane 500 saying, “The difference between men and boys is the price of

their toys”. How very true this saying is, I wonder if that member recalls this.

On Sunday the 16th November we had a very pleasant breakfast run to Intaba View.

Thanks to Lynette Barnes for arranging and thanks to those who attended.

Just for your information, our proposed Motor Show is well on its way, a venue has

been decided on as well as a provisional date. We still require more members to join the

sub-committee as to put a show of this magnitude on the road takes an enormous

amount of arranging. Please come forward as it is for the benefit of your club.

To those members intending to travel by road during the festive season, please do

so with utmost care and be alert. These days you have to anticipate what the other

drivers are going to do or not do. A typical example is how red traffic lights are ignored

in particular in the early mornings. We also have to be on the lookout for the condition

of the roads. It is no longer a pleasure to take a road trip these days, by the time you

reach your destination you are so stressed it is just not worth it.

TRAVEL SAFE.

On behalf of the committee I would like to wish all members, their

families and loved ones a very joyous, safe and a happy festive season.

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SICK PARADE

Best wishes go to Doug Wallace who has had spinal surgery.

100 CLUB WINNERS

The winners this month were: 1st Carl Jensen

and 2nd Vincent Wiley.

CONCOURS

January is fast approaching and we will once again be holding our annual concours at the end of that month. If you are busy with a rebuild or sprucing up your baby it’s time to accelerate the progress before the Christmas spirit and Natal Fever take their toll.

NEW MEMBERS

A warm welcome goes out to Avrill Jacobs who joins hubby Joe as a member. Also joining us this month are Chris and Frances Beekman who own a 1969 MG roadster. All the best for a long and happy association with the VCC.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

GG Run. The final GG run for 2014 will be at the Summerveld Training Centre Restaurant on Thursday 11 December 2014 ( The 2nd Thursday in December)

We will meet at the VCC car park at 07hrs 50 for departure at 08 h30.

If you wish to join us on this run, kindly advise me by 09h00 on the morning of Tuesday 9th as I need to advise the venue of numbers attending.

The first run of the new year sees us going to the Pot and Kettle at Bothas Hill. Richard Holmes. Phone - 031 765 2286 / 083 409 6053.

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

This will take place on Saturday 13 December. Be at the clubhouse by 12.30pm for 1pm start.

Cost: R 140 for members, R 160 for guests. Phone Lynette to book on 031 266 1075 / 076 730 0347 Bookings close on 6 December.

VCC

CHRISTMAS

LUNCH

A Revised Balance Sheet has been placed on the notice board for your viewing.

It is with sadness that we advise of the passing of Robin Palframan and Shirley Jensen. As long standing members they will be missed by all who knew them.

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Ty Terblanche who is the KZN Coastal representative of the Buick Club of SA, ad-vises that The Buick Club also includes its Cadillac and Oldsmobile chapters.

Car of the day was won by Alan Evans for his 1926 Armstrong Siddeley.

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TRIUMPH TR 7 40TH ANNIVERSARY

On Friday 26 September a group of Triumph sports car owners gathered at the En-gen service station in Hillcrest for a 7.00.a.m. start for a trip to Pretoria to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the building of the first Triumph TR 7 in 1974. The cars con-sisted of a GT6, and six TR 7s conveying amongst others David and Anne Blair and Brenda and John Murphy. We travelled more or less together until the first stop at the Ultra City in Estcourt. After breakfast at the Wimpy we headed off for our next planned stop at the Caltex service station just past Harrismith where we were joined by an additional TR 7. So far all was going well. We made a further stop at Villiers to top up with petrol.

Our arrival in Pretoria was to be via Benoni to avoid the traffic on the M.1 through Johannesburg and also to avoid other annoying overhead installations on that road. My son Terry Murphy had supplied a list of directions from the N.3 to Pretoria and it was agreed that, from Villiers, Brenda and I would lead the procession. Brenda provided each of the drivers with copies of the directions and maps but they seemed to have become mislaid on route.

The route took us through the industrial area of Benoni with many traffic lights and stop streets which made keeping together a bit difficult. All went well until about 50 kilometers from our destination when 1 car developed trouble and we found a spot where we could all pull over so David Blair and David Lugg could do some tinkering and adjusting to get the car going again. Unfortunately, the remedial work was only short lived as, within a short time, the car broke down again, in a rather hot and treeless spot, and no amount of tinkering could get it going again. A phone call was made to Nols Pienaar who undertook to arrange for a trailer to pick up the breakdown and David and Anne agreed to stay with Ken and his family to await the arrival of the trailer. After a break of about one and half hours, the rest of us continued on our way and finally ar-rived at the Armscor premises in Pretoria where the gathering for the anniversary was to take place the following day. A group of the Pretoria club members (including Terry Murphy and Rudi Venter) had done some preparation work on the field to mark out the display of cars and were waiting for us to arrive. We were welcomed to Pretoria with a reception at the MG Club that evening. The following morning, the marking out of the design on the field was finalized and the cars started being placed on position.

By 12 noon with all the cars in position Terry and his band of helpers climbed up on the peak of the roof of the pavilion at the field to take the photograph. The camera was fixed to the top of a seven metre long mast and the camera activated remotely. To achieve this, Terry was held in place by his helpers who had also braved the roof.

The display had been meticulously planned with pride of place right in the centre front occupied by a 1947 Triumph Roadster and a 1951 Triumph Mayflower. The letter-ing and numbers TR 7 and 40 were made using 32 Triumph TR 7s, which included one which had travelled up from the Free State. The remainder of the front row, the sides and the two top rows of the surrounding square were made up of 36 other Triumph sports car models, positioned in mirror fashion with the same models on each side of the square. In addition there was 1 Triumph TR 2 (built between 1953 and 1955),

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the square. In addition there was 1 Triumph TR 2 (built between 1953 and 1955),

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1 Triumph sedan and, as guests, 1 MG, 1 Austin Healey Sprite and 1 Panhard sports car, a total of 74 glorious cars gleaming in the bright sunshine.

By means of fancy modern technology the photograph was immediately transferred onto a laptop computer, and copies were printed and made available for sale, at a very reasonable price.

All 32 of the TR 7s were lined up at the edge of the field for one more photograph before everyone moved to the adjoining lapa for a braai and some cooling beverages. Everyone was thanked for making this historic event possible.

For the photographs, the errand TR 7 was pushed into place and appears as the yel-low car in the 7 of the display. It also happens to be the oldest TR 7 in the country, a 1975 model. Immediately after the display photograph, some further tinkering managed to get the engine to start but it required some further work and was left in Pretoria. Four of the KZN contingent agreed to meet at the Armscor premises at 7.30.a.m. on Sunday 28 September and got on the road shortly thereafter. We used the same route (backwards!!) as we had used on the journey up with Brenda and I again leading. Due to a bit of confusion, we took a wrong turning on the way and, quite by mistake, travelled through a residential area of Benoni instead of the industrial area, but linked up with the up route eventually and without any time delay.

When we left Pretoria, the weather was warm. As we left Warden and headed for Harrismith, however, we encountered high winds which became colder as we approached the mountains. By the time we arrived in Harrismith, light drizzle was falling and we could see mist over van Reenen.

David and Anne, Terry Eaton and Ed went in search of a plug lead for Ed’s car and Brenda and John continued on the trip, reaching Hillcrest at approximately 3.30.p.m. We had some heavy mist over van Reenen and intermittent rain all the way back. Coming over van Reenen Pass, as we were passing a heavy truck, some “flotsam”, which could have been rubber or heavy plastic, flew up and struck the under carriage of the car which seems to have caused a dent. The car will have to be put on a hoist to see what damage has been caused. Apart from this, there was no problem at all with Brenda’s TR7.

It was a tiring trip but well worth having made the journey to participate in this historic event and the presence of the seven TR 7’s from KZN was extremely appreci-ated by the Pretoria club members. John Murphy.

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1919 REO STORY In 1922 my Dad ran away from school in his matric year and joined the army in an attempt to

get involved it the action against the strikers on the mines in Joburg.

After the action against the strikers he was posted to Defence Headquarters in Pretoria as a clerk in the office of the Chief of Defence. In the office was another clerk, Private Marais, nick

named ‘Vark’. Also in the office was the General’s driver who’s surname was van Driel

In those days the Defence Force owned 3 cars for the General, all three were 1919 Reo’s. One was based in Pretoria for use there, another was based in Cape Town for use when Parliament was in session and the third was based in Bloemfontein, on standby in case there was a problem with

either of the other two. You can imagine how conspicuous these cars were.

van Driel was unmarried and a womaniser of note. He regularly ‘commandeered’ the Reo after dark, when he was not in the service of the General, and was allowed out of the confines of De-fence Headquarters by the Guards on the pretext that he was on duty and was to take the General to some or other function. He would then take his conquest of the evening down to the remote

recreation area called The Fountains where he would get up to whatever !

Marais was a very proper, relatively shy person. At some stage he started to court the RSM’s daughter, which eventually progressed first to an engagement and later to an impending mar-riage. van Driel was horrified that Marais could contem-plate getting

married, still being a virgin ! As the marriage date approached he unrelentingly lambasted Marais about the matter and eventually a few weeks before the wedding Marais buckled and agreed to a

‘liason’.

The arrangement was that van Driel would arrange for his ‘date’ for the evening to get another ‘troll’ to finally free Marais of his unspoiled state. van Driel would collect the car after dark, ride out the back of Headquarters, and turn left up the road. At the next corner he would turn left into Dequar Road, where Marais would be waiting under a lamp post. Marais would then jump into

the back of the Reo.

They would then proceed down the road to the next lamp post, next to Pretoria Prison, where the two ‘troll’s would be waiting, and then proceed to the Fountains. On arriving at the appointed meeting place, van Driel slowed the car threw the front door open and helped in his ‘troll’ on board. At the same time Marais assisted his ‘troll’ for the evening only to look straight in to the face of

his future mother in law !!!!!!!

The wedding never took place ! I wonder why ????

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Technical Tip 91

Have you ever had the experience of trying to remove wheel nuts with the little wheel spanner the manufacturers supply with a car? These spanners may work under perfect conditions - like when the car is brand new, but once you’ve had new tyres fit-ted and the wheel nuts tightened by those very special chaps at the tyre shops - add to this a bit of age, dust, rust and rounding off of the nuts - you invariably have no chance of loosening the nuts with the spanner provided. A suggestion is to carry a telescopic or a square wheel spanner. Unfortunately, in recent years, I have had poor results with the square spanners as they seem to be of a very poor quality and usually only available in metric sizes.

An alternative is a telescopic spanner. They are of excellent quality, 30 cms long extending to 50 cms – so much easier to use. Apart from the added length, the tele-scopic spanners are much stronger and are slightly offset to clear the wheels rim. They also have a decent rubber grip on the handle. They come supplied with a variety of met-ric sockets normally from 17 to 23mm, however, as they use a ½ inch drive one can use imperial size sockets suitable for our older cars.

These telescopic wheel spanners are freely available from most accessory shops. The one I’m looking at is made in Germany and sells for R85.00. In addition to using them on wheel nuts they are ideal for heavy work like loosening cylinder head nuts etc.

The photo is a comparison of a closed spanner and an extended one. The black one is typical of one supplied with a Rootes product car (it’s a joke).

Conclusion – a worthwhile investment - especially when you’re sitting on the side of the road and can’t get the wheel nuts loose.

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(3) by

This 1915 Model T Ford Tourer (left), started an antici-pated 50,000 mile world tour in 2012, and will have visited an ex-pected 50 countries by the time the tour ends in 2015. It is equipped with a set of 30 x 3 ½ Firestone clincher tyres and the

journey is to show support for the worldwide work of the SOS Children’s Villages In-ternational. Couch lizards can follow the exploits on www.tfordworldtour.org

Motoring writer David McGowen tells the story of Berlin businesswoman and social-ite, Heidi Hetzer, who at 77, is embarking on the journey of a lifetime, replicating the world’s first circumnavigation by an automobile, with her 1930 Hudson Eight. She has experience as a rally driver, and is a car collector and dealer.

She started her journey from Berlin in July and hopes to finish back at the Bran-denburg Gate in June 2016. Her travels from Germany will take her through Eastern Europe and Turkey, crossing Russia and China in September. She then plans to drive through South East Asia before going to Perth, Australia, crossing to Sydney in the summer months before taking on New Zealand from North to South. The car will then be transported to the US, and from California, she will cross the US and spend the lat-ter half of 2015 heading through Mexico, Columbia, Brazil and Argentina, before cross-ing to North Africa, Spain and France on her way home.

During the early days of U.S. automobile manufacture, it was common for the cars to be named after their founder. A certain Pierce D. Schenck of Dayton, Ohio, thought better of that idea, and after talking four fellow Daytonians out of the $50, 000 he needed to start his automobile enterprise, he established the Speedwell Motor Car Company.

His chief engineer was Gilbert L. Loomis, who had been building cars under his own name since the turn of the century in Massachusetts. The production philosophy was initially “the more the merrier”; with Rutenber four and six cylinder engines offered on both 116 and 132 inch wheelbases. After ’07 however, the decision was made to confine efforts to a 120 inch chassis and one four cylinder engine, which Speedwell would make itself. This was a sound idea, and production for the ’09 year quadrupled from the 25 cars built in ’07.

Schenck began expanding his production facilities with a vengeance, until there were

** In 1930 Hudson marketed their cars as “The Great Eight”. With a Straight Eight to feed at perhaps 30 lit./100 kms., I very much hope she has gold bullion in the trunk!

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9 buildings in all – an embarrassment of riches initially because he leased out one of them to Orville and Wibur Wright to build their new flying machines until their own factory building was completed.

The base price for a Speedwell was $2500 – “it would be folly to pay more, and un-wise to pay less” the company neatly said. The Speedwell was a well thought out car and well built, with an admirable dedication to detail. Gearbox leakage, a common problem of the era, never happened on a Speedwell because a “stuffing box” on both ends of the driveshaft prevented the escape of grease or oil. They were also among the earliest to market a torpedo, and the only to use concealed door hinges and place the horn under the hood.

Of the 4000 Speedwells built during the lifetime of the marque (1907 – 1914), most arrived during the salad days of 1909 to mid 1912. This was a most respectable produc-tion, and augured well for the future.

Pierce Schenck unfortunately tired of his automotive venture and turned his inter-est instead to malleable iron. Gilbert Loomis left Dayton, and some people who were en-amored of the rotary valve engine designed by Cyrus E. Mead bought into the company. It was a disaster. Ensuing contretemps among the board of directors resulted in the Mead people pushing through a rotary-valve car for production, while the Speedwell people insisted that the standard car be offered as well. This did provide the company the fillip of being the first in the indus-try to offer both poppet and non-poppet valve cars.

Cyrus Mead then had the misfortune to be killed in an automobile accident, which meant that further refinements to the engine would not be forthcoming. A vicious flood also hit Dayton, which meant that not even the standard cars could be produced as the company bailed out its plant.

The distribution network for Speedwell was among the healthiest in the industry, but dealers deserted in droves when deliveries didn’t arrive. Bankruptcy was declared in early 1915.

Finally the repair parts and business was acquired by the Puritan Machine Company headed by A. O. Dunk who made a practice of carefully watching the trade papers and buying up automobile companies immediately after their obituaries were written. Speedwell was his sixty-first such purchase.

This wonderful working agricultural venture is again opening their doors to the world for their “Stars of Sandstone 2015” as a follow-up to the magnificent event in 2014. The dates are 2-12 April 2015 and you can find out all about it on their website www.sandstone-estates.com. Also look around at their 3 Newsletters publicizing the new event and explore last years show with their photos. If you intend visiting, you should BOOK NOW!!!

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There was a really good response for information for our club car database last month but for good measure we are repeating the appeal to those members who “forgot” to submit their info.

INN AFRIKA B & B Kloof

We offer guests a good SA welcome

with peaceful, well appointed en-suite rooms and a great breakfast.

10% discount to friends and family of all VCC members…… week-ends only.

Secure undercover parking by

arrangement.

Contact: Sandy 031-764 6422

Website: www.innafrika.co.za

Email : info@innafrika.co.za

Pensioners & Camping

Our economy is so bad that pen-sioners can’t afford to stay in ex-pensive hotels any more…

We are now forced to go camping!

It’s just not fair...!!!!!!

A genuine 1960’s advertisement.

I was visiting my daughter last night when I asked if I could borrow a newspaper. "Dad this is the 21st century" she said. "We don't waste money on newspapers. Here use my iPad." I can tell you this.

That fly never knew what hit him.

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In 1990 when Lynton Milner was the editor of the newsletter he made this appeal. It’s just as relevant 25 years later!

DO YOU JUST BELONG ?

Are you an active member, the kind that would be missed Or are you content simply, to have your name upon the list ?

Do you attend the meetings, and mingle with the flock Or do you stay at home alone, and criticise and knock?

Do you take an active part, to help the work along

Or are you simply satisfied, being one of those that just belong ?

Do you ever bother visiting , a member who is sick Or do you leave it to the usual few, then moan about a clique ?

There’s a full programme, which I’m sure you’ve heard about

And we’d appreciate your company, if you come and help us out.

Think this over, brother – you know right from wrong Are YOU an active member – or do you just belong ?

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If you wish to place an advert please contact: Oliver Hart at hart2@telkomsa.net Ads will run for 3 months if necessary. Please notify me if an item is sold. ** Austin A30 1955-1958, Propshaft, steering box, G/box, diff., windscreen, head, tappet cover, wiper holders, rockershaft. Ten 1941-1946 Chev. hubcaps. Barry Tilbury. 082 811 7968

*** Gedore socket set. New unused in sealed box. R2,000. Current retail R3,000. Everard 083 703 8940 031 767 3721. * Super VHS Recorder (SVHS) required. Not normal VHS. Ollie Hart 031 701 0018. hart2@telkomsa.net ** Auto Union 1000S. Drivers r/h window catch, passenger sunvisor, indicator relay. Les Wood. 036 422 2852. or 082 923 4404

*** Model A Ford, to buy! Please could you let us know of anyone who is keen to part with their beautiful car, so we can enjoy it. Wendy Wills. 0828853741 Jhb. *** Body parts for 1986 Mazda 626 SL. L/F fender, F/spoiler, F/bumper and grille. Yvonne Smith 031 767 4873.

THE FIRST TO DO IT Seats convertible into bed 1921 Pan.

Air-conditioning 1938 Nash.

Monocoque (Racing cars) 1923 Voisin.

V12 Production car - 1916 Packard.

Pre-selector gears - 1900 Lanchester.

Oil-pressure warning light -

1926 Talbot.

Aluminium used in crankcases - 1890’s.

Aluminium bodywork - 1900 Lanches-ter + 1902 Rochschild et Cie. Electric fuel pump - 1923 Wills St. Claire.

Submitted by David Miller.

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